Our Class Blog:

Dr. Kristen Landreville Wed. Aug. 25, 2010

What is Politics?

What is News?

In-class Assignment #1 In groups of 2-3, Define politics Define news Write your names on the paper and write your definitions.

What is Politics? “A process whereby a group of people, whose opinions or interests are initially divergent, reach collective decisions which are generally regarded as binding on the group, and enforced as common policy.” -- Blackwell Encyclopedia of Political Thought What may be missing here? Non-binding decisions? Public affairs information?

What makes a story newsworthy? Timeliness Impact Proximity Novelty Prominence Conflict Most news stories will have a few of these characteristics

What is News (in Theory)? “What newsmakers promote as timely, important, and interesting From which news organizations select, narrate, and package for transmission To people who consume it at a given time in history” --- Bennett, Ch. 1, p. 11 Anything missing? Entertainment media? Individuals and people-powered news?

What is News (in Reality)? Declines in all of the following areas: International news Environment news Government activities Increases in: Crime, disasters, accidents Gossip, scandal, celebrities Entertainment

What Local News? 24-minute average local news broadcast Crime, accidents, disasters Soft news (e.g., latest American Idol kickoff) Weather Commercials How much time is allocated to …? Government, health, foreign affairs, education, science/environment About 5 minutes!

What is Political Communication? Meadow (1980): “the exchange of symbols and messages between political actors and institutions, the general public, and news media that are the products of or have consequences for the political system” Perloff (1998): “the process by which a nation’s leadership, media, and citizenry exchange and confer meaning upon messages that relate to the conduct of public policy”

Key Words Process Involves three main characters: politicians, media elites, citizens Messages Exchange and interpretation Mediated or interpersonal Governance Beyond elections

What About…? Are these things considered to be political communication according to the definitions presented? Swiftboat Ad Obama Girl SNL

Functions of Media Gatekeeping Agenda setting & framing Platform for advocacy Platform for dialogue across diverse views Hold officials to account for exercise of power (4 th estate) Help people develop their opinions Can entertainment and the Internet do these jobs as well?

Obstacles to Functioning Conflicts among the goals Nature of political communication (elite to masses) can discourage participation This elite to masses process is changing via the Internet Not everyone is – or must be – interested in politics Political and economic constraints Low quality controls Free speech does not guarantee good information Coverage of school shootings but not schools, train wrecks but not transportation

Myths About News Bias People believe news has widespread political bias NOT EXACTLY ALWAYS TRUE Journalists are like dogs—pack animals. Implications: Centrist, balanced stories Potentially conflicting opinions included in stories The Easy Way Out: News readers “see what they want to see” in seemingly neutral stories Partisans perceive more hostility toward their “side” in news stories (Hostile Media Perception) Blame journalists for being bias

The Real Problems Bennett Ch. 2 reveals the more pressing problems 4 Biases Personalization Dramatization Fragmentation Authority-disorder bias We’ll discuss these problems and how to improve the quality of our news throughout the course.

Message Considerations Manifest content On the surface Explicitly stated or communicated Latent content Below the surface What is read “between the lines”

Types of Effects – ABC Attitudes Issue opinions, candidate preference, party affiliation Behavior Voting (vs. not), campaign contributions ($ and time), attempts to persuade others in discussion Cognitions Knowledge (i.e. candidate issue stances, current events info, perceptions of reality [who won the debate, which candidate closer to self])

Types of Effects Intentional Negative ads intended to persuade News intended to inform Unintentional Negative ads reduce voting (?) News creates cynicism

Looking Ahead… Topic for Mon. Aug. 30: News Content: The Biases that Impact the Content Read Bennett Ch. 2 DUE: 1 st Blog Post on “My News Diet” See class blog for sample blog 1 post as well as course materials (click COJO 2480 tab) at: